Doctoral Candidate
Senior Specialist, Invited Lecturer
Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, the Lectureship of Basque Language and Culture
Tbilisi, Georgia
ORCID: 0009-0005-0931-756X
irina.nozadze@tsu.ge

The Issue of Periodisation of Modern Basque Poetry (XX–XXI Centuries)

“We write in a strange language” […] [Basque] is the language of a tiny nation, so small that you would have difficulty finding it on a map; it has never passed through the gardens of the royal palace or the marble statues of government buildings; […] its sleep has been long, and its bibliography was laconic (although, in the 20th century, the hedgehog woke up).”

Bernardo Atxaga notes that the first third of the 20th century, up to 1936, in Basque literature, is linked to the second half of the 19th century, known as the First Basque Renaissance, which is considered the starting point of modernity. The transition from formalism to nationalism began in the political and cultural spheres, while a lively interest in the past and the collective fate of the Basque people persisted.

According to 21st-century Basque writer, poet, and researcher Beñat Sarasola, some critics consider the works of Jean Mirande and Gabriel Aresti as the starting point of modern Basque poetry, while others cite Bernardo Atxaga’s poetry collection Etiopia. Aresti’s authority and presence as an intellectual had a profound influence even on those who sought to escape the impact of his poetry.

Basque literary scholar Lourdes Otaegi points out that critics still distinguish three fundamental periods in the genealogy of modern Basque poetry: the first corresponds to the First Basque Renaissance, with Xabier Lizardi as the central figure; the second focuses on Mirande and Aresti, who contributed to the postwar literary renewal; and the third is associated with the literary association Pott Banda and its prominent representative, Bernardo Atxaga.

One of the challenges in studying modern Basque poetry lies in systematizing the transitional period accompanying the revision of the avant-garde and the emergence of a whole generation of young poets. Xabier Mendiguren calls them the ‘63 Generation’; some refer to themselves as the “lost generation,” though these labels are largely artificial and constructed.

 

Keywords: Basque Country, Modern Basque Poetry, Periodisation